Senator Bernie Sanders declared this morning, ". . . it's a very
difficult hearing because what we are going to be touching on today is
what happens to the men and women who come home from war, who have
served us with great courage and what happens to them when they return
to civilian life."

He is the Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and they were talking about issues like military suicide.

But let's use Sanders' words as a starting point -- and let's note that
Senate Democrats actually do work to improve the lives of veterans. The
same cannot be said for the Democratic leadership in the House.

Tammy Duckworth is not only a member of Congress, she's also a veteran
of the Iraq War. Nancy Pelosi chose to 'honor' veterans this week by
announcing that a veteran who lost both legs in combat would not be
allowed to vote by proxy on the issue of who would hold what office --
for example, who would be the next Ranking Member of the House Energy
and Commerce Committee.Duckworth is at home in Illinois. Why doesn't she just fly to DC?CBS News notes Duckworth "was told by doctor that it was unsafe for her to fly at this stage in her pregnancy."

Last night on Comedy Central Jon Stewart was rightly mocking the
disgraceful US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi in a segment of The Daily Show
entitled "Petty Woman" which ended with Jon observing, "And that's how
the precedent was set that a woman leader can be every bit as craven as
her political male counterparts. Let me say this, You go, girl.
Seriously, you should go."

His takedown of Pelosi’s denial of a pregnant woman’s vote in House
Democratic elections proceeds in merciless fashion. Availing himself of
Pelosi’s trail of accomplishments over the years, he documented how she
has established herself on key issues that bear on the Duckworth
situation. For instance: The National Partnership for Women and
Families, noted Stewart, celebrated Pelosi’s advocacy for “working
women.” Also highlighted by Stewart: Pelosi said at an event for the
Voting Rights Act, “The right to vote must be the cornerstone of our
democracy.”
Stewart: “You’re a recognized champion of working women and voting rights.”
From there, the rip was easy: “You rejected, you’re suppressing the
vote of a minority pregnant woman who is a wounded war veteran. She is
everything you supposedly stand for stuffed into one individual. She is a
Democratic demographic tur-Duckworth,” said the host.

She denied Rep. Tammy Duckworth's request to cast a proxy vote in the
Democratic leadership elections. Duckworth was advised by her doctor
not to fly to Washington in her eighth month of pregnancy. Duckworth
(D-Ill.) also is a double-amputee Iraq War veteran, or, as Stewart put
it, a Democratic demographic Turduckworth. The reason for denying the
proxy vote? Pelosi said it would set a precedent ... and Duckworth
happened to be supporting someone other than Pelosi's chosen candidate
for a committee position.

Poor Nancy, it's week two and it's not going away.

Even worse for Nance, it's now her.

This is her to America.

It's as though she tripped at a party and knocked a table over and now
every time she waivers a little when she walks, people will giggle.

It's the New Nancy. Somewhere lower on the evolution scale than Billy Carter or Dan Quayle.

Not a good position to be in when over a third of Democratic members of the House want you gone.

Not a good position to be in when Dems are gearing up for the 2016
elections and can't afford to have a leader be a laughingstock.

And now she has an image as a person who trashes veterans.

Senator Sanders today puzzled about "what happens to the men and women
who come home from war, who have served us with great courage and what
happens to them when they return to civilian life."

What does happen to them?

Last week, Nancy Pelosi made clear that they will not receive fair
treatment, that the work environment will not change to meet their
medical needs.

Maybe you know of Senator Patty Murray's work on veterans employment?
The Hire A Hero campaign and other programs she's steered and
implemented.

Murray and others have worked very hard to stress that veterans have
important skills they can offer employers. In the House, US House Rep
Gerry Connolly has stressed the skills veterans have and the need for
these skills to be translated into the civilian workforce.

Nancy Pelosi doesn't believe veterans have any skills or insight.

Which is why she used an arcane rule to force US House Rep Tim Walz out
of seeking the Ranking Member post on the House Veterans Affairs
Committee in favor of Pelosi pet Corrine Brown.

Native-born Corrine Brown struggles with the English language, attacks
veterans in hearings (when she shows up for the Veterans Affairs
Committee hearings), attacks witnesses, attacks the Office of the
Inspector General and so much more.

This is not a new development.

Dona moderated a "Congress and Veterans"
roundtable May 13, 2012 about a House Veterans Affairs Committee
hearing the previous week that we had covered in the community:

Dona: Thank you, Kat. That perfectly set up a point I wanted to get to
with Ava. Kat and C.I. reported on US House Rep. Corrine Brown. Ava,
what was your take?

Ava: Brown's an embarrassment. I can't believe the crap she pulled.
She didn't give a damn about the veterans and made excuses for the VA
and lied and misled. She's an embarrassment, I hope to hell her sorry
ass is voted out of Congress.

Dona: She attacked a witness, what was that about?

Ava: Another reason her sorry ass needs to be pulled out of Congress.
The second panel was people who worked outside of the government
including Dr. Nicole Sawyer who is a psychologist. Corrine Brown wanted
to show that her bad wigs weren't the trashiest things about her. She
went off on Dr. Sawyer because Chair Miller asked about the comments
Shinskeki made. Corrine Brown cut off the doctor started screaming her
head and acting like a crazy woman when usually she just sounds like an
uneducated one.

Dona: What set her off?

Ava: The reality was that Shinseki was being critiqued and she wasn't
going to have that. She lied and stated it wasn't fair for the doctor
to critique Shinseki. But, in the first round, when Shinseki was asked
about Dr. Sawyer's written remarks, Shinseki offered a critique and
Corrine Browne didn't say one damn word.

Dona: Wally, your take?

Wally: The same as Ava's. I'll pick up where she left off. So Corrine
Brown cuts off the witness who is answering Miller's questions --

Dona: Brown doesn't even have the floor. She just barged in while the witness was speaking?

Wally: Correct. And then after she has her rant, Jeff Miller, the
Chair, sort of gives this look like, "Now that the crazy lady is done . .
." He goes back to asking Dr. Sawyer a question. Dr. Sawyer is sort
of stunned and she replies to Miller's question, starts to, and tries to
explain she wasn't trying to offend anyone when Brown cuts her off
again and starts screaming her head off about how Miller needs to tell
the witness to address her remarks to the Chair. And it was just
embarrassing. I'm from Florida, Corrine Brown is the Congressional joke
of our state.

Dona: So, let's --

Ava: Sorry. It's not over, Dona. Miller is attempting to calm down
Crazy Corrine. The hearing's at a complete standstill. And the crazy
woman is insulting Dr. Sawyer, stating she won't listen to Dr. Sawyer
because Dr. Sawyer isn't a "doctor." She calls the woman an
"educator." As an insult. Miller notes that remark's not going to
please educators and Brown doesn't care. She was just so rude. If
you'd been in that hearing, you would have been shocked that a member of
Congress would act the way she did.

Dona: Okay, thanks for that. C.I., is this typical Corrine Brown?

C.I.: Since January 2009, it has been. She makes excuses for the VA and
rushes to excuse Eric Shinseki's many problems. I remember an October 15, 2009 hearing
on the VA's inability to get checks to veterans -- the GI Bill checks
-- for the fall semester and how Corrine Brown was offering excuses for
the VA in that hearing too. That's just one example. She's disgraced
herself. I have no use for her.

Dona: Kat, closing thoughts?

Kat: The hearing's not going to accomplish anything, the Committe's not
going to, until everyone can agree that the veterans are the most
important thing. Corrine Brown was not serving veterans, she's usually
not. When a Republican is in office, there's the pretense that she's
tough and will ask questions to protect the veterans. But when a
Democrat's in office, she reveals she's just a partisan and doesn't give
a damn about veterans.